Why video is an important marketing tool

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As progressive as companies claim to be with their marketing spend, I tend to find most are stuck in the dark ages of purely text based marketing. Sadly, most companies consider video to be an expensive “frivolity” one can do if they have budget to burn.

What they seem to be missing is the way people ingest content these days.

In a landscape of smart phones, social media and superfast internet, the marketing playing field has been levelled and it’s anyone’s game. For this reason, it has never been more important to engage your audience. Some would say video?

They say a picture tells a thousand words; but that’s a misnomer. Actually, every second of video equates to 60 words so surely, we should recalculate that phrase to 60,000? Not only that, viewers retain 95% of a message when they see it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.

Whilst I’m going “full factoid” on you, here are some statistics about video usage on the internet in the past 12 months (Yay!)

– 82% of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter
– Over 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube EACH DAY!
– 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week

Video is BIG. Bigger than big. The Beatles in 1963 big! How much of that is viewed on smartphones? Over half! Therefore, it is key for companies to not only consider video; but ask where and how their videos are being watched. Companies must target their audience and ask the following question before they make their next video:

Is this shareable?

Your video may look pretty and say nice things, but if that person scrolls to the next video and forgets about it then it’s not worth the effort. Your video needs legs so it can run free and save you doing most of the grunt work. Figure out what it is you have to say and find a way of doing it that engages, entertains and promotes sharing.

People love being part of something, so create a marketing community where your audience can engage with your brand! It will give them something to do on their commute to work or whilst they sit on the toilet. Joking aside, this will ensure the next time you have something to say, they will listen.
Now all you need to do is sit back and reap the rewards. Statistics show marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than those who don’t. Read that again. 49% faster than those who don’t!

I’m not saying you should ignore the old methods altogether! Don’t just throw a video on Facebook and call it a day. Target your audience! An email with a video included receives an increase click through rate by 96%. Alternatively, putting a video in a full-page ad boosts engagement by 22%. The old faithful methods still work, only now they just need to work a little harder.

Once it’s out, check up on it. How long do people watch it for? If they tune in for a minute of your two-minute masterpiece then maybe next time do a shorter video? It’d be a shame to make Citizen Kane and not find out what Rosebud was. (Here’s a clue: it’s your brand!)

In a nutshell (sorry to those with nut allergies) what I’m trying to say here is: Video Marketing is becoming increasingly more important whether you like it or not. How you become part of the revolution is up to you. Viva la revolución!